Jeff Newburnhttp://jeffnewburn.com
Plan 2 ThriveSun, 01 Jun 2014 15:10:40 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.0.6Community Wellbeinghttp://jeffnewburn.com/community-wellbeing/
http://jeffnewburn.com/community-wellbeing/#commentsSun, 01 Jun 2014 15:10:40 +0000http://jeffnewburn.com/?p=409For the last few weeks, I have posted highlights from the book Wellbeing by Tom Rath. Below are highlights from the fifth and final area.

Thriving Community Wellbeing is about what we do to give back to our community

Choosing the community you live in

Physical safely and low crime

Areas that are a good fit for your personality, family, interests and personal pursuits

Aesthetics

Climate

Availability of recreational activities of interest to you

Social offerings

Community involvement and being part of organizations

Context to connect with a wider network of friends or acquaintances

Helps to have a default to service opportunities

At the highest end of the Community Wellbeing continuum is giving back to society. This may be what differentiates an exceptional life form a good one.

People with thriving Community Wellbeing say that the greatest contribution they had made in their life is the impact they have had on another person, group or community.

Donating money result is a greater return for our wellbeing that buying material goods for ourselves.

When we donate our time, we get a “helper’s high” and feel stronger, more energetic, and more motivated after helping others even in the smallest ways.

When we see how we can make a difference, this gives us greater confidence in our own ability to create change in other areas of our lives.

Welldoing, over the course of our lives:

Promotes deeper social interaction

Enhanced meaning and purpose

A more active lifestyle

Keeping us from being too preoccupied with ourselves or getting into harmful emotional states

Increases longevity

Reduces stress and negative emotions

People who make significant contributions to community organizations usually have an emotional tie to the organization’s mission or cause.

People with high Community Wellbeing make their interests known, particularly in their workplace and church. Therefore, they are more likely to be called upon to get involved.

People who are engaged in their careers are 20%-30% more likely to give back to their community.

Summary

People with high Community Wellbeing feel safe and secure where they live. They take pride in their community, and they believe it is headed in the right direction. This often results in their wanting to give back and make a lasting contribution to society. People with thriving Community Wellbeing have identified areas where they can contribute to their community based on their own strengths and passions. They tell others about these interests to connect with the right groups and causes. Their contributions may start small, but over time, it leads to more involvement and has a profound impact on their community. The efforts of people with thriving Community Wellbeing are what create communities we cannot imagine living without.

Three Recommendations for Boosting Community Wellbeing:

Identify how you can contribute to your community based on your personal mission.

Tell people about your passions and interests to they can connect you with relevant groups and causes.

Opt in to a community group or event. Even if you start small, start now.

Setting Positive Defaults

Any time you help your short-term self work with your long-term self, you have an opportunity.

Intentionally choose to spend more time with the people you enjoy most.

Engage your strengths as much as possible.

Structure your finances to minimize the worry caused by debt.

Make exercise a standard part of your routine.

Make healthier decisions in the supermarket so you don’t have to trust yourself when you have a craving a few days later.

Make commitments to community, religious, or volunteer groups, knowing that you will follow through once you’ve signed up in advance.

Through these daily choices, you create stronger friendships, families, workplaces and communities.

]]>http://jeffnewburn.com/community-wellbeing/feed/0Physical Wellbeinghttp://jeffnewburn.com/physical-wellbeing/
http://jeffnewburn.com/physical-wellbeing/#commentsSun, 25 May 2014 11:17:00 +0000http://jeffnewburn.com/?p=406Another installment from the book Wellbeing by Tom Rath

With every bite and drink we take, we make a choice. We can select something that is a net positive and benefits our health or we can choose something that is a net negative.

What we eat and drink, coupled with adequate sleep and vigorous exercise, make our bodies run much more effectively.

Lifestyle changes are difficult to make. Therefore, we need to understand how negative choices affect us today. When we see the connection between short-term incentives enabling us to make net positive decisions in the moment, it helps us reach our longer term goals.

Positive and negative daily decisions accumulate over the years and shape our lives and generations after us.

What we eat

Eat more omega-3s from fish, nuts and seeds

Eat less omega-6s from meat and vegetable oils

Meals high in carbohydrates and sugar send a message to our brain to consume more

Food with unsaturated fats such as avocados, nuts and olive oil signal our brain that we are full and we should stop eating.

Make a shopping list and buy healthy foods at the store, so that your kitchen and refrigerator are full of healthy foods. Spur-of-the-moment choices are usually not the best.

When eating out, choose a restaurant that serves mostly healthy food.

Better yet, taking a nutritious meal to work is healthier and saves money.

Exercise

Only 30% of Americans get the recommended 30 minutes of exercise five days a week.

People who exercise at least two days a week are happier and have significantly less stress.

Each additional day of exercise—up to six days a week—boosts energy levels.

On days when you don’t have 20-30 minutes to exercise, a mere 11 minutes of lifting weights increases metabolic rate, which helps burn fat throughout the day.

One of the primary benefits to exercise is that you feel better about yourself and your appearance, and it boosts confidence.

Sleep

Getting a good night’s sleep clears stressors for the day before and gives us a fresh start on the day.

Adequate sleep increases our chances of having energy and high wellbeing throughout the day.

Adequate sleep allows our brain to process what we learned the day before and solve problems.

People who get too little sleep (5-6 hours) are 34% more likely to experience a substantial weight gain.

People who get too much sleep (9-10 hours) are 25% more likely to experience a substantial weight gain.

Economics of poor health in our country

Healthcare costs consume 16% of the US GDP and is on the rise

Healthy Americans are paying a tax of $1,500 per year to subsidize unhealthy Americans

Half of all healthcare cost are consumed by 5% of the population

75% of all healthcare costs are due to largely preventable conditions such as stress, tobacco use, physical inactivity and poor food choices.

Creating sustainable change best happens in the context of community. For example, if you enroll in an intensive weight-loss program, after 10 months, the chances of your maintaining your weight loss is:

24% if you enroll alone

50% if you enroll with a social support group of three strangers

66% if you enroll with three friends or colleagues

Summary

People with thriving Physical Wellbeing effectively manage their health. They exercise regularly and feel better throughout the day as a result. They make good dietary choices, which keeps their energy high throughout the day and sharpens their thinking. They get enough sleep to wake up feeling well-rested and to process what they learned the day before—and to get a good start on the next day. People with thriving Physical Wellbeing look better, feel better, and will live longer.

Three Recommendations for Boosting Physical Wellbeing:

Get at least 20 minutes of physical activity each day—ideally in the morning to improve your mood throughout the day.

Sleep enough to feel well-rested (generally seven to eight hours) but not too long (more than nine hours).

Set positive defaults when you shop for groceries. Load up on natural foods that are red, green and blue.

]]>http://jeffnewburn.com/physical-wellbeing/feed/0A Case Study in Contrastshttp://jeffnewburn.com/a-case-study-in-contrasts/
http://jeffnewburn.com/a-case-study-in-contrasts/#commentsFri, 23 May 2014 12:48:25 +0000http://jeffnewburn.com/?p=404Yesterday I visited with two wealthy elderly widows, one in my office and one at assisted living. Both have lots of health issues and are suffering a great deal. But how they are dealing with their suffering is a study in contrasts. One has one foot in heaven, and is waiting expectantly to get there. The other seems to have one foot in hell, where there is constant misery.

One has a spirit of great determination. She is not letting her physical limitations stopping her from serving at her church. She told me about how she gathered all her strength so that she could speak about her doll collection at a mother-daughter banquet, and how she is supporting her children and grandchildren. When I asked her how she manages to do this, she spoke of her deep faith, and shared with me what God has spoken to her from her Jesus Calling devotion book.

The other former client is living in hopeless despair. When I entered her room at the assisted living facility, she was telling the worker that someone had stolen money from her. As I listened to her monologue of woe, she mostly talked about her money, which seems to be her only friend. She complained about her relatives, was mad at God for allowing her to have a stroke, warned me about making friends with the staff and other residents. She wants to die and end her misery.

Seeing this contrast presents makes me ask what will I be like in my 80’s? Will my life be characterized by thankfulness for the good things God has given me? Will I embrace my sufferings and allow them to draw me closer to God? Will I be a blessing to others?

Or will I focus on my sufferings and be bitter? Will I focus on my loneliness and isolation?

I pray that for whatever time God gives me, whether a few days or a few decades, that I might be filled up with God’s goodness and overflow that goodness to others.

Stating the obvious, having enough money to meet your basis needs and provide good health care is directly correlated to your wellbeing. Also, money can increase our short-term happiness by giving us more control over how we spend our time.

Spending money on yourself does not significantly boost wellbeing.

Spending money on others is as important to people’s happiness as the total amount of money they make.

Taking on debt to buy a larger house or nicer car or something else that produces an uncomfortable burden

Managing your finances well allows you to do what you want to do when you want to do it.

Summary

People with thriving Financial Wellbeing are satisfied with their overall standard of living. They manage their personal finances well to create financial security. This eliminates day-to-day stress caused by debt and helps build financial reserves. People with high Financial Wellbeing spend their money wisely. They buy experiences that provide them with lasting memories. They give to others and don’t just spend on themselves. As a result of managing their money wisely, they have the financial freedom to spend even more time with the people whose company they enjoy the most.

Three Recommendations for Boosting Financial Wellbeing

Buy experiences—such as vacations and outings with friends or loved ones.

When you reflect on the most memorable events, experiences and moments in your life, you’ll notice that they have something in common: the presence of another person. The best moments—and most agonizing ones—occur at the intersection between two people.

Your odds of being happy increase by 15% if a direct connection in your social network is happy. In other words, having direct and frequent social contact with someone who has high wellbeing dramatically boosts your chances of being happy.

If your friend’s friend has high wellbeing, the odds of you being happy increase 10%.

If your friend’s friend’s friend has high wellbeing, the odds of you being happy increase 6%.

This is about three times the impact of $10K in income: for each additional $10K annual income increased the likelihood of being happy only 2%.

Each happy friend you have increases your odds of being happy by 9%.

Each unhappy friend you have decreases your odds of being happy by 7%

Influence on Smoking

If a close friend or family member smokes, you are 60% more likely to smoke

If second degree of separation smokes, you are 30% more likely to smoke

If third degree of separation smokes, you are 10% more likely to smoke

Influence on Obesity

If your close friend obese, you are 60% more likely to become obese

If your spouse, brother or sister is obese, you are 40% more likely to become obese

Influence on health

If your best friend is very active, you are three times as likely to be very active

If your best friend has a healthy diet, you are five times more likely to have a healthy diet

Combining social interaction with physical activity has a compounding effect on our wellbeing.

People with few social ties are at twice the risk of dying from heart disease

Couples who report hostility in their relationship take twice the time to heal from wounds.

To have a thriving day, we need six hours of social time. This includes time at work, at home, on the phone, talking to friends, sending e-mail and other communication.

This is true for both introverts and extroverts

This is true on weekdays and weekends

If less than six, every additional hour of social time had a measurable benefit

For seniors, among those who were socially active, their memories declined at less than half the rate compared to those who were the least social.

Best friends at work

Only 30% of employees have a best friend at work

Those who do are seven times as likely to be engaged in their work and be better employees

Of those who do not have a best friend at work, there is a 1 in 12 chance they are engaged in their jobs

Small increases in social cohesiveness—chit chat—lead to large gains in production

Summary

“People with thriving Social Wellbeing have several close relationships that help them achieve, enjoy life, and be healthy. They are surrounded by people who encourage their development and growth. Those with high Social Wellbeing deliberately spend time—on average about six hours a day—investing in their social networks. They make time for gatherings and trips that strengthen these relationships even more. As a result, people with thriving Social Wellbeing have great relationships, which gives them positive energy on a daily basis.”

Three Recommendations for Boosting Social Wellbeing:

Spend six hours a day socializing with friends, family, and colleagues (this includes work, home, phone, e-mail and other communication).

Strengthen the mutual connections in your network.

Mix social time with physical activity. For example, talk a long walk with a friend so you can motivate each other to be healthy.

People with high Career Wellbeing are more than twice as likely to be thriving in their lives overall.

Long-term unemployment

Unemployment might be the only major life event from which people do not fully recover within five years.

Our wellbeing actually recovers more rapidly from the death of a spouse than it does from a sustained period of unemployment.

Being disengaged at work appears to be a leading indicator of a subsequent clinical diagnosis of depression.

On bosses…

If your manager ignores you, there is a 40% chance that you will be actively disengaged or filled with hostility about your job.

If your manager is primarily focused on your strengths, the chance of your being actively disengaged is 1%.

People looking for a job should be as concerned about who their manager will be as they are about their job title, benefits or pay.

Career Wellbeing in one of the major differentiators that helps us live into our 90s

Of the men who live to see 95, the average retirement age was 80

93% of these folks reported a great deal of satisfaction out of the work they did

People who have the opportunity to use their strengths are six times as likely to be engaged in their jobs and more than three times as likely to report having an excellent quality of life.

The Essentials of Career Wellbeing

People with high Career Wellbeing wake up every morning with something to look forward to doing that day. Whether they are working in a home, a classroom, or a cubicle, they have the opportunity to use their strengths each day and to make progress. Those with thriving Career Wellbeing have a deep purpose in life and a plan to attain their goals. In most cases, they have a leader or manager who makes them enthusiastic about the future and friends who share their passion.

While you might think that people with a high Career Wellbeing spend too much time working, they actually take more time to enjoy life, have better relationships, and don’t take things for granted. And they love what they do each day.

Three Recommendations for Boosting Career Wellbeing:

Every day, use your strengths.

Identify someone with a shared mission who encourages your growth. Spend more time with this person.

Opt into more social time with the people and teams you enjoy being around at work.

]]>http://jeffnewburn.com/career-wellbeing/feed/0Wellbeing Introhttp://jeffnewburn.com/wellbeing-intro/
http://jeffnewburn.com/wellbeing-intro/#commentsSun, 09 Mar 2014 14:34:48 +0000http://jeffnewburn.com/?p=390On my recent vacation, I read the book Wellbeing—The Five Essential Elements by Tom Rath, author of the book Strengthsfinder, and Jim Harter. The book is based on Gallop Poll’s extensive research conducted worldwide. Since I am a student of Thriving, I found the book very relevant and having fascinating insights.

Per my usual custom of books I consider having significant insights, I took notes and did a book report on it. From time-to-time, I will be posting highlights of each chapter. I hope you find them insightful.

Your Wellbeing

Wellbeing is the interaction of five elements:

Our love for what we do each day

The quality of love in our relationships

The security of our finances

The vibrancy of our physical health

The fulfillment of our life calling in our community

66% of people are doing well in one or more areas; a third are not in any area

7% of people are thriving in all five

The five critical elements are all in our own control, and we have the ability to improve them.

The single biggest threat to our own wellbeing is ourselves as we allow our short-term decisions to override what is best for our long-term wellbeing.

If we can find short-term incentives that are consistent with our long-term objectives, it is much easier to make the right decisions in the moment. When we can see an immediate payoff, we are more likely to change our behavior in the moment. This aligns our daily actions with our long-term interests.

]]>http://jeffnewburn.com/wellbeing-intro/feed/0Grief and Comfort and the Peahttp://jeffnewburn.com/grief-and-comfort-and-the-pea/
http://jeffnewburn.com/grief-and-comfort-and-the-pea/#commentsSat, 09 Nov 2013 14:24:56 +0000http://jeffnewburn.com/?p=386I attended a birthday party for a little boy. Family and friends had gathered to celebrate. His dad told him that before he could have his birthday cake, he had to finish his plate. There was one pea left.

But the little boy didn’t want to eat the pea. In spite of his dad coaxing him and encouraging him, he refused. I greatly respect his dad for not giving in. He was calling his son on his bad attitude and his disobedience, and stood firm, even though this was very awkward for all the guests.

The battle went on for an hour. There was a lot of crying coming from that little boy upstairs, who wouldn’t give in. We were all grieved.

Then he came down, went to his plate, and ate his pea. Hurrah! We could now all enjoy our birthday cake with him. He was a happy little boy again, and we played with him and enjoyed him as though nothing had ever happened. Life was good again.

I am going through a book called Questions for Jesus by Tony Stotzfus. Here is one of his questions:

“Father, you experience loss every day when we do stupid things, and you grieve over it like Jesus wept over Jerusalem. And yet the Spirit that is you is called the ‘Comforter.’ How does comfort come in the midst of that? How do you grieve and still remain God?”

This question goes to the heart of the wonderful character of God. How does a God who hates sin, who has the foundation of His throne as righteousness and truth, respond when one of his kids is acting badly? Not by pouncing on us but by comforting us! By helping us remember who we are and getting back to living that out.

I invite you to spend some time interacting with God as you answer Tony’s questions above.

]]>http://jeffnewburn.com/grief-and-comfort-and-the-pea/feed/0A Healthier Kind of Happinesshttp://jeffnewburn.com/a-healthier-kind-of-happiness/
http://jeffnewburn.com/a-healthier-kind-of-happiness/#commentsSat, 21 Sep 2013 14:04:11 +0000http://jeffnewburn.com/?p=381This week I read an insightful article from Berkley’s The Greater Good Science Center on the correlation between boosting your immune system and living out your life purpose for the benefit of others.

According to the article, “…happiness that comes from doing good or fulfilling your life purpose may be better for you than happiness that comes from self-gratification or pleasure seeking.” It discusses a recent study, which assessed either “eudaimonic” well-being—the kind that arises from a sense of purpose or service—or “hedonic” well-being, which we get from a good time focused on bringing us pleasure or happiness.

“Results of the study show that, while both types of happiness correlated with lower depression levels, only those people with high levels of eudaimonic happiness had a better immune response profile…. In other words, happiness derived from leading a life full of purpose and meaning seemed to protect health at the cellular level, while happiness derived from pleasure or self-gratification did not.”

“Research has shown that acting in generous ways lights up areas of the brain associated with pleasure and reward, and can lead to positive health outcomes like lower stress and better cardiovascular health. In addition, several studies have found that volunteering increases longevity in older adults, especially if that volunteerism is motivated by altruism and not personal gain.”

In Proverbs 3:8, it says that if we are trusting in God and living in His ways—then “It will be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.” The interesting insight is that our body’s immune system has its foundation in our bones. So this study confirms the ancient wisdom that if our lives are characterized by living in service to others, it will be good for our health as well!

]]>http://jeffnewburn.com/a-healthier-kind-of-happiness/feed/0The Story of Godfrey Camillehttp://jeffnewburn.com/the-story-of-godfrey-camille/
http://jeffnewburn.com/the-story-of-godfrey-camille/#commentsSun, 11 Aug 2013 13:59:04 +0000http://jeffnewburn.com/?p=374I recently read an article, “What are the Secrets to a Happy Life?” by George E. Vaillantthat was summarized from the book he wrote, Triumphs of Experience: The Men of the Harvard Grant Study.

The Harvard Grant Study is the longest longitudinal study of biosocial human development ever undertaken, and follows the lives of 268 Harvard sophomores from 1938 to the present. The study’s goal was to identify the key factors to a happy and healthy life.

Vaillant writes that there are two key findings from the study. One is that happiness is love. The other is that people can change.

Camille was selected for the study at age 19 because he looked like he had a promising future, wanted to go into the ministry or become a physician. But ten years later, the impact of being raised in a dysfunctional home was manifested when he was diagnosed as an unhappy hypochondriac who attempted to commit suicide. His future looked very bleak, and the study ranked him as destined for failure.

When he was 35, he was bedridden for a year with an illness. During this time, for the first time he felt cared for, something he missed growing up. The articles says, “Camille felt his time in the hospital almost like a religious rebirth. “Someone with a capital ‘S’ cared about me,” he wrote.” He described how he had experienced a personal encounter with Jesus in the hospital—a visitation—that was the turning point for everything in his life.

Framing this in another light, it seems like Camille suffered from attachment pain, which sapped his capacity for serving as a doctor and life in general. During his stay in the hospital, God used other people, and perhaps some intervention directly to show that God and others were glad to be with him, healing him from his attachment pain.

Quoting from the article, “Released from the hospital, Dr. Camille became an independent physician, married, and grew into a responsible father and clinic leader. His coping style changed as the decades passed. His transitional reliance on displacement (the unconscious avoidance of emotional intensity) was replaced by the still more empathetic involuntary coping mechanisms of altruism and generativity (a wish to nurture others’ development). He was now functioning as a giving adult. Whereas at 30 he had hated his dependent patients, by 40 his adolescent fantasy of caring for others had become a reality. In vivid contrast with his post-graduation panic, he now reported that what he liked most about medicine was that “I had problems and went to others, and now I enjoy people coming to me.”

“That convalescent year, transformative though it was, was not the end of Camille’s story. Once he grasped what had happened, he seized the ball and ran with it, straight into a developmental explosion that went on for 30 years. A professional awakening and a spiritual one; a wife and two children of his own; two psychoanalyses, a return to the church of his early years—all these allowed him to build for himself the loving surround that he had so missed as a child, and to give to others out of its riches.”

Vaillant writes, “a loving childhood—and other factors like emphatic capacity and warm relationships as a young adult—predicted later success ... What’s more, success in relationships was very highly correlated with both economic success and strong mental and physical health…In short, it was a history of warm intimate relationships—and the ability to foster them in maturity—that predicted flourishing in all aspects of these men’s lives.”

“So when it comes to late-life success—even when success is measured strictly in financial terms—the Grant Study finds that nurture trumps nature. And by far the most important influence on a flourishing life is love. Not early love exclusively, and not necessarily romantic love. But love early in life facilitates not only love later on, but also the other trappings of success, such as high income and prestige. It also encourages the development of coping styles that facilitate intimacy, as opposed to the ones that discourage it. The majority of the men who flourished found love before 30, and the data suggests that was why they flourished.”

“…happiness is only the cart; love is the horse …Before age 30, Camille depended on narcissistic hypochondriasis to cope with his life and his feelings; after 50 he used empathic altruism and a pragmatic stoicism about taking what comes. The two pillars of happiness revealed by the 75-year-old Grant Study—and exemplified by Dr. Godfrey Minot Camille—are love and a mature coping style that does not push love away.”